User blog:Cuddlecuffs/Hello, and all that jazz :)
I wanted to have a bit of a change from my usual posts that tend to be more on the wiki updates/game research side, so I thought it would be nice to have an introductory blog where you fellow editors can tell me your stories of how you discovered Life is Strange (like which game was the entry point into the fandom)... which game is preferred and why... and how the games resonate with you emotionally. :) I'm not very good at summarising my love for LiS, but I'll have a go! I'll keep this summary about my experience with the first game until I can figure out how to word my experience with the other games in the franchise. My own discovery of Life is Strange (Season 1) was when I needed a break from - coincidentally - a photography course I was doing at the time. I'd recently got back from a trip to New York for my birthday (December 2016) and was stressing over now being a week behind and trying to put together a portfolio of 10 images for a final assessment in January. At this time, I was friends with Afterlaughs (whose fan arts I discovered through my then-interest in OITNB). Around November, I noticed that her arts had switched from "Vauseman" to this thing called "Pricefield" which featured a blue-haired girl. This was apparently now her "OTP". She was posting them enough for me to get curious, and somebody commented on one of her posts that I should play the game. I felt like I was missing out on something great. I think I had heard of Life is Strange from seeing the cover art on gaming sites but never really looked into it, although I had wanted to play Remember Me when it was out but didn't have a gaming computer at the time. (I never knew both games were by the same studio at that time, either.) Anyways, 15th December that year was when I played for the first time. The only spoiler I had before playing was that the mysterious blue-haired girl in the Blackwell restroom would be the "Chloe" that Afterlaughs had been drawing. I'm just looking back through my Instagram posts now and laughing, because I'd uploaded an image of the main menu two days later, saying I hoped I wouldn't be up as late playing the game as I was the other night. Apparently, I'd been playing from 11pm to gone 4am, because I got so immersed. XD I remember being confused but curious about Episode 1. I knew it was the foundation episode so things probably wouldn't make sense right away, but the style, pacing, and music was unlike anything I had experienced in a game before. Max's internal monologue as she sat on the foundation... the chirping birds and little wisps in the air... It was so different to any game I had played. It took me out of "stress mode" and relaxed me a lot. I also loved the voice acting. (I can understand why a lot of people gave up and said they found it "boring" when you think about how different this was to regular games. I'm sorry those people have missed out; I think many would have enjoyed the story that unfolded.) Then Episode 2 got dark, and that's when I was hooked! (Yes, Kate died in my first playthrough. I had no idea she could even be saved until after my first playthrough when I binged on articles about the game's story and choices!) I do remember being absolutely numb and emotional at the end of Episode 3 when I saw what had happened to Chloe... It was the early hours of the morning, and I can't remember if it was that part that caused me to log off my computer or the part at the end of the next episode where she was shot... with the big villain reveal! (The game broke me twice at those points, anyways.) According to an image I posted on 19th December of Max having jumped back to Jefferson's class so she can warn David about him, I was agreeing with Max's comment of "I hope I still love photography when this is done..." XD Then I posted a picture of my final choice of saving Chloe, where it was showing 47% sacrificed Arcadia Bay Vs. 53% sacrificed Chloe in the global statistics at the time. It was the hardest moral choice, and I was sitting with my head in my hands for ages, but I just couldn't imagine Max's life to be happy without Chloe. Their best friendship just seemed even stronger by this point. :( The memories I've hung on to most strongly are: * Not liking Chloe's personality in the first two episodes as I found her pushy, possessive of Max, and not showing much consideration for Max's possible limits. * Being terrified about Max's nose bleeds and headaches in Episode 2 and asking Afterlaughs if it's all leading to Max dying if I used her rewind too much! * Growing to really like Chloe and seeing a different side to her in Episode 3. This is the episode that started repairing the best friendship, in my eyes. * Thinking Jefferson was a cute and cool teacher, then hating myself for thinking this later in the game! * Not really wanting to find Rachel, because I wanted Chloe to realise she had a soulmate in Max. Her focus on Rachel was only going to distract that realisation! I also didn't want Max to be a fifth wheel if they all hung out together like Chloe was hoping, haha! (Is it wrong that I felt a little relieved when they discovered that Rachel was dead?) Although it was left ambiguous about Chloe's relationship to Rachel, what's clear is that she crushed on her. My own personal thought about it was that she was like a doting puppy that tagged along with Rachel to things and was perhaps led on, had mixed signals, or was given the carrot-on-a-stick treatment sometimes when Rachel wanted her own way. (Chloe's voice actress had the whole "puppy" impression of her, too.) I just want to say that the passion behind the fan arts, fan fictions, and fan-created merch is what I love the most (outside the games themselves). :) Okay... Now it's your turn! Category:Blog posts